Hey could people start posting their assignments for the Und. Comics here? Or even start claiming that you are working on them? I don't know what to start looking over, because I'm not sure what chapters others have already claimed. --Jamie

Here's an idea for ChapterSix ---Ersula

http://pbl.ist.psu.edu/cgi-bin/analog.pl?MccloudChapterseven Here's a link to a McCloud assignment for chapter 7. (Octavio, Rebecca, and Jessica)

For Chapter 3 of McCloud, in their blog space, the students identified the key terms that McCloud used, defined them, and discussed how they were relevant to their own writing.

After reading chapter 6 (particularly relevant if ch.6 is assigned during evaluative arguments),

Split students into groups and have each group tell a story that contains an implied value judgement (for instance, "I had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning after a late night of studying chemistry and they were the best pancakes I have ever had"). After they are done telling their stories, the other groups will have to construct a comic out of the story, converting it into a form of pictoral rhetoric.

(Sarah, Katherine, Lauren)

Further ideas for Chapter 6 - Since this chapter is about the interplay between pictures and words, try finding pictures of things that will be difficult to describe using words alone - then split your class into clusters and give each cluster a picture. Have the clusters try to write a description of their picture using words alone, and then see if the rest of the class can make an accurate guess as to what they are trying to describe. This could be used as a jumping off point for encouraging students to use pictures as part of their final project (even if it is primarily written). - Peter

An idea for an in-class writing assignment for Chapter 5: after discussing the importance of line quality to comics and how this relates to writing (ie, tone), hand out the same paragraph to each small group (from some work with longer paragraphs, All the Kings Men or Ellison's Invisible Man would work well) and have each group rewrite the paragraph in a different style/tone. Tone examples: authoritative, preaching, conversational, surreal, disapproving, enthusiastic, non-judgemental, etc. (Stephanie)

Another idea for Chapter 5: This chapter explains the expressiveness of line as a function of tone, so both a writer's tone and an illustrator's tone can be (literally) described by a line. Have the students exchange rough drafts and comment on their fellow students' tone: humorous, serious, didactic, detached, urgent, etc. After they have analyzed the tone of the essay, tell them to draw a line that represents the essay's tone. Use the lines in Chapter 5 (particularly pp125) for examples and models. (Laura and Shawna)

Chapter 4: Use this chapter to show students how to attack multiple arguments within the paper using motion and sequence. This activity refers back to "gutters," "closure" and counter-arguments while discussing motion and fluidity. Have students look through their clusters' rough drafts and discuss transitions as well as paragraph flow and voice. Chapter four will allow them to connect the visual rhetoric of motion and sound. (David and LaRetha)

Suggested assignment for Chapter 4:

Draw a comic strip with one or more panels that conveys (but does not explicitly state) the issue you have chosen to discuss in your paper and its causes. You should show the causes taking effect through time and motion. Look at McCloud for ideas on illustrating motion or the passage of time to different degrees. Note that you will probably be looking at your issue in the opposite direction from your paper (in which you hopefully identify the topic/problem in your introductory paragraph and then proceed to work backward in time to discuss its causes); here you will show the causes and then their effects. Alternately, you could show the result in the first panel and then have a flashback to show the causes.

Now trade your strip with the person next to you. Write a short paragraph that identifies the topic of the other person’s paper and the causes they have identified based on the illustration they gave you. Give this interpretation to the person next to you. Read over their explanation of your strip: did you give the reader a good sense of the time that elapsed between cause and effect? Did you clearly communicate the topic of your paper and its source(s)? Discuss.

--Skye

Chapter 8